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Evaluating the cost/benefit of different weighing strategies by determining the impact on selection and marketing of pigs for slaughter (commercial growth trial)

Sponsors: AHDB Pork

Project duration: 2016 - ongoing

Aims and objectives

To determine the value of individually identifying pigs throughout their life

Identify a way to increase weight to slaughter; improve market forecasting; more accurately determine time for ration changes; achieve early warnings for health and environmental control

The trial

Develop a race system specific to pigs, optimally designed for ease of handling, speed and minimal stress on staff and pigs.

Establish the persistence of spray marks on pigs

Examine data from weighing in order to determine how marketing/ weighing strategies might be optimised.

Explore the use of UHF tags to track pigs through a system and determine if marketing strategies can be optimise via predictive rather than reactive analytics.

Findings to date

The race design has been optimised for the site and is being used as part of their system (see report)

The additional weight added to pigs by weighing has clearly covered the cost of additional staff time, although weighing is often a low priority job compared to essential stock tasks.

An interface has been developed to harvest data from scales and third party UHF readers, either handheld or fixed in scales and is being further developed for roll out to levy payers

The video below shows a number of weighing systems

Next steps

A Standard Operating Procedure has been drawn up for a partner farm in order to UHF tag and weigh pigs from birth and at set intervals until draw. The data will be analysed in order to determine management interventions and best time to draw for slaughter

Records from 750 tagged pigs at the AHDB Pork Strategic Farm were fed into a machine learning platform to create a model that will predict the week of kill using only birth data (gender, weight at birth, parity of sows etc), confirming scope for wider use of performance data for predictive analytics.

Optimising the potential of the small pig through the implementation of best practice in the farrowing house

Optimising the potential of the small pig through the implementation of best practice in the farrowing house

Expected benefits: Four days fewer to slaughter and 2% reduced pre-weaning mortality

Summary

A pre-trial survey of high performance breeding units was conducted by John Richardson of Production Performance Services Ltd. in the UK and Denmark to inform best practice. Further details can be found here

This trial is being conducted on a commercial unit with three batches of sows over a three-month period

In each of the three batches, there were 28 control sows and 28 test sows. The test sows were managed according to the best practice farrowing house management protocol

Performance recording and spending time understanding data helps pinpoint which changes could make the biggest difference to pig performance and cutting costs. All businesses can benefit from spending time understanding trends and patterns in herd performance data as well as establishing what information is most useful to observe on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis.

Aims and objectives

To establish data accuracy and correct inputting of performance data into recording systems

To work with farm staff to make full use of management reports from recording systems and to build the use of these into the daily routine

To evaluate key performance indicators against national averages and identify key areas of focus for the herd

To analyse performance data on an ongoing basis to monitor the effectiveness of interventions.

Project achievements during 2013-2014

Six farms participated in the trial and received quarterly visits to analyse and make best use of farm data

There are some performance areas, such as pre-weaning mortality, that several producers found they needed to focus on.

The key points which this trial has highlighted as crucial to maximising the value of data collected from recording systems, are:

Recording the right data: The first step is to make sure all staff are recording data accurately and that what is actually happening in the herd is reflected in the data itself

Running regular reports: Sanne Baden has worked with producers in the project to help interpret their existing reports and has also suggested new reports that are useful, which producers may not have been aware of before

Benchmarking: Before you can set realistic targets, it is sometimes helpful to know what other producers in the industry are doing and what is typical in similar systems

Target setting: Thisis central to achieving overall performance objectives, it is essential that all targets are realistic and that everybody knows what is expected of them

Check progress and monitor interventions: Vets, nutritionists, breeding company representatives and staff are all important to include when working out the cause of a performance issue and what steps can be taken to address it.

Investigation of the effect of allocating 50% and 100% more feeder space on the performance of growing-finishing pigs

Duration: April 2015-2016

Aims and objectives: To investigate the effect of doubling feeding space for growth.

The trial: The trial has been run on two dedicated research sites, one with flat-deck weaner accommodation and one with slatted grower-finisher accommodation, allowing 600, 900 and 1,200mm of trough space per pen of 25 pigs.

Findings: No significant impact was observed on production parameters (DLWG and FCR) in the flat-deck system. No significant impact on DLWG was observed in the slatted accommodation either during the whole period from nine weeks of age through to slaughter, nor between any individual weighing (every two weeks during this period).

It is worth noting that this work was only carried out on a couple of farms and the impact of such changes may be affected by the type of feeder, layout of pen, food, competition, genetics, etc.

Investigation of the effects of varying space allowance (stocking density) on the performance of growing-finishing pigs

Duration: April 2015 - September 2015

Aims and objectives: To investigate the effect of increased space allowance for growth.

The trial: Conducted at a university research site, pigs were housed at different stocking densities, using three varying space allowances: 0.68, 0.77 and 0.85m2. Pigs were monitored over five batches from nine weeks through to slaughter.

Findings: There was no significant impact of the varying space allowances on performance as a whole. However, there was significant variation between the smallest space allowance (0.68m2) and the largest space allowance (0.85m2) during two-week periods.

Age (weeks)

DLWG increase (g/day)

Total additional growth (g)

9-11

11.13

156

11-13

NS*

NS*

13-15

31.63

443

15-17

30.99

434

17-19

NS*

NS*

19-20

67.90

951

Total

19836

While the increase in space allowance produced a significant difference in DLWG during this time period, DLWG over the whole period remained unchanged. This means that while the growth curve of the pigs altered slightly there is no real growth/financial benefit to the additional space allowance.

It is worth noting that this work was only carried out on a couple of farms and the impact of such changes may be affected by the type of feeder, layout of pen, food, competition, genetics, etc.

Evaluation of a carcase cooling container

Duration: 2015- 2016

Aims: To evaluate the operation and performance of cooling containers for the on-farm storage of dead pigs (fallen stock) in England.

The trial: Two carcase cooling containers have been installed on trial sites. The containers are fitted with a mains-powered refrigeration unit, connected with a 16amp plug.

The temperature inside and outside the container is recorded to monitor performance and each of the containers has been fitted with a meter to monitor the exact energy consumption.

Since the initial findings, which showed that the cooling containers kept the contents of the bin between 2 - 7°C, even when the external temperature reached 30°C, the variation in temperature has been reduced by 45%

Fewer collections are necessary due to the fact that producers on the trial farms are using a bigger bin than previously and because the bins do not get as smelly

Producers, their staff and the collectors approve of the bins, as they are less smelly and have fewer flies

Electricity use was in the region of 80p per day during the summer period and less during cooler times of the year

Aims and objectives: To collect and evaluate data for ammonia emission levels within pig sheds. This information is valuable for estimating the environmental impacts and is often required for permitting and planning applications.

The trial: The ammonia concentration in the inlet and exhaust air was measured on two sites, using the ammonia analyser developed by AHDB Pork in conjunction with other organisations. In addition, the number of pigs, weights, feed intake, protein content of diets, ventilation rates, external and internal temperature and relative humidity were also recorded, as per the internationally recognised VERA protocol standardisation.

Expected benefits: More accurately quantified ammonia emissions will assist producers in obtaining consents and permissions for new buildings and in making investment decisions.

Findings to date:

Initial analysis of data from the first farm (a straw flow based system) has been conducted and results will be available by summer 2017

The second machine is currently sampling on a fully-slatted unit, with the first two full sets of data being analysed and sent for external verification

Plans are in place to position a machine on another unit in spring 2017 in order to establish a factor for a part-slatted (low emission design) building and explore the effectiveness of some nutritional interventions on ammonia emissions from part-slatted buildings

Another unit will also have a machine installed to gather further data on fully-slatted housing and the effects of electronic particle ionisation (EPI)